SOME FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS REGARDING LAW AND CRIME
1. Every society is based on the coercion of some of its members by others.
2. Law is a function of political power. It is used by the more powerful to maintain control over the less powerful. The more threatened a ruling group feels, the more rigorously it tends to enforce the law.
3. Laws are the codification of ruling class interests. Laws become legitimate because the ruling class has the power to enforce them and the ability to create the ideology by which they are made to appear justified.
4. The police, the courts, and the correctional systems are all instruments utilized by the ruling class to insure adherence to their laws...